Between the Jaguar XK 120 and the MG TC there was an obvious gap in the North American market between the upscale jag and the more “affordable MG”. Triumph directors decided to fill this void. In 1952 at Earl’s Court Motor Show the Type 20TS was revealed to the public with its frumpy curves and lack of ass. No literally, it had no ass. The spare tire sat partially enclosed poking out the back of the car. It was motivated by a Standard Vanguard twin carb motor.
At the time though of the prototype’s release there was still work to be done. Ken Richardson was placed in charge of the TR2. The finished product would have its own dedicated ladder frame and suspension ganked off of the Mayflower. The rear of the car was enclosed and the Vanguards motor had its displacement bumped down to 1991ccs. With 90 hp the TR-2 could easily see 100 mph… for those with balls big enough to take them that fast. I should also note at this point they still had 4 wheel drum brakes.
Now there were several interesting quirks about the car that I feel like noting at the moment. For one I showed a detail of the ass of the car. The reason is that the single red light over the license plate is actually the brake light. The only one on the car. Also I’m sure you’ve noted that there were no windows on it. They were in the boot along with the top and had to be bolted into the door with a Zeus key. If you look there were no external door handles either, there was a cable inside of the door you had to reach in and tug on top open the door. Also to prevent certain accidents the “long” (I consider them tall) doors were replaced with shorter ones in 1954.
In 1955 the TR2 underwent a small facelift and a few mechanical tweeks for Triumph directors to change the name from the TR2 to the TR3.
There was a small 5 hp bump and a little later another 5 and the nose was changed a little bit. There were other small niggling details, such as real bullet style taillights were added, but most importantly it was one of the first production cars to feature front disk brakes the next year. Other little details about the cars: I’m sure that you noticed that both the TR2 and TR3 have small holes in the grill. Care to guess why? Well I’ll give you a hint, they had Lucas electric starters. That’s right, they actually had hand cranks with them and could be turned over in the old timey fashion. Also the cars were offered with optional hardtops but almost no one went for them so they’re rare to find today. The cars had 4 speed gearboxes as well with optional overdrive.
In 1958 there was another cosmetic bump and external boot and door handles were added giving us the TR3A.
It was mechanically identical to the TR3 that preceded it but of the early Triumph TRs it is arguably the most successful. This is actually the only Triumph model I have ever been fortunate enough to drive myself. Also this is probably my dad’s favorite of his collection. It’s actually been reliable despite the prevalence of Lucas electronics. The amazing thing about these cars is just how little they undercut the Jaguar. The 600 dollar optional wire wheels could actually put the cars into the other car’s price range and kind of negated the point of it being a “poor man’s jag” but the cars still sold.
The dash had a simple logical layout with a push button starter. A heater was equipped and if you were really lucky you even got a radio. Most of the time though there was a turn signal indicatior, an idiot light, tach, speedo/odo, fuel, engine temp, oil pressure, and ammeter. As for stuff to play with there’s a choke, heater, wipers, and that’s pretty much it. As cars overall the frumpy TRs almost qualify as semi reliable for their age but they also get 35 mpg out of their pushrod boat anchors. Saying its fun is a bit of an understatement. It’s the closest you can get to being on a motorcycle on 4 wheels. The suspension gave “interesting” handling characteristics as well. The front was independent but the rear was a solid axle that say over the frame. Because of the layout the car achieved a near disgustingly low rideheight (while sitting in the car you can touch the ground), but it lead to some odd dynamics while turning. The cars would go from mild understeer to a sudden snap of oversteer as the axle collided with the frame. But the suspension would then unwind and plant again so the cars would basically fidget at the limit and skip sideways.
Also at this point you might have noted that I have yet to mention the TR3B. This was a special North American model that was sold here because the yank market had trouble accepting the new body style of the TR4 so they continued to sell the TR3 here with the TR4’s better engine and transmission. But for now I’m going to leave the rest of the triumph history for another post. I’m planning on doing the TR4-6 separately and if there’s enough interest I’ll do the TR7&8 too.
